


The Pain of the Past/The Light of the Present

by Aetherrryn



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, No Byleth, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 11:04:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21178379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aetherrryn/pseuds/Aetherrryn
Summary: There were some questions she feared to be asked.





	The Pain of the Past/The Light of the Present

There were some questions she feared to be asked. There were some questions she feared to answer.

There were some questions she could not avoid forever.

As she watched her children grow, she knew—she knew that soon they would begin to notice, begin to ask. They had already begun. They were clever little boys, and curious—too inquisitive for their own good, she might say.

And every time they chattered on, inquiring of every little thing, her heart clenched in fright. What if it had come—the time to drudge up the history that plagued her sleep, that still slithered like a venomous serpent in the decaying coffins of her skull.

Where is father’s eye?

Why is mother’s hair white?

Why did mother collapse and scream when we tried to spook her with a rat?

Why does father look so sad and cry when no one else is near?

Innocent queries—perhaps even asked with smiles dancing across boyish faces and an obstinate curiosity flickering in two pairs of mischievous eyes.

They had already begun to toy with his eyepatch—making a game of pulling it off whenever he stooped to their level, or took them into his arms. And he always smiled despite that; despite the stiffness that briefly overtook his body, despite the flicker of uncertainty in his remaining eye.

How was she to answer?

Your father lost his eye whilst a fugitive from his own country. Whilst a traitorous witch took his home from him and sought to end his life. Whilst a madness of bloodlust and endless rage consumed his spirit and the souls of the dead screamed into his ears and demanded he pay tribute with the lives of his enemies. And she had once been one of them.

Your mother’s hair lost its pigment many years ago. Long ago, when she was imprisoned as a child and forced to suffer through unfathomably cruel experiments—when the screams of her siblings and the skittering of rats were all the company she was offered. How she had grown to hate that sound.

Your father weeps because the dead haunt him still. Well, her too. They had both lost those they dearly loved. The weight of their gravestones clung to their necks like a tightly bound noose, inescapable.

So now you know, children. That your mother and father are broken, that they are drowning in the blood of those whose lives they took, littered with the scars of having survived.  
And such were the answers that she feared to give.

Her children; young, innocent, untouched by grief, pain. Why should the darkness of her past taint the light of their present? Why should she mar their dreams of mirth with stories of sorrow? Boys of only six years of having lived should not seek to know such cruelty.

So she said nothing. She watched them grow.

They were handsome boys, just like their father—and like him, they both had golden hair. Mikhail reminded her of herself when she had been his age—boisterous, confident, and like her, he had inherited the lilac Arundel eyes. Yet he had been born bearing no crest.

Nikolai was more his father’s son. Timid and hesitant, and to her and her husband’s amusement, the one who had inherited the crest of Blaiddyd and Dimitri’s outstanding strength. Already the boy had begun to break his and his brother’s toys. But his eyes were a mix—one was blue, the other lavender.

How she loved to watch them in their innocence and youth. How she loved to see them smile, and him—her husband. His smiles had been hollow for long after the war, long even after they had wed.

Until they had been born. Dimitri had held his sons and wept, and she had wept alongside him.

And now he smiled more than ever—like he had when they had been younger.

And as she watched them smile, she could not resist the creeping tug upon her own lips.

She watched them, her countenance soft, her eyes dancing with amusement. The two were yet again pestering the king, clinging to either of his arms, making the most out of the warm day—a rarity here in the frigid north.

He had forgone his royal robes, shed his outer tunic and tussled with his sons in a plain white shirt. Dimitri looked happy. There was nothing else to be said. No embellishment needed. He looked happy.

The queen released a breath and raised her eyes heavenward, admiring the cloudless sky, resting her hand over her heart. She…was happy too. Though long had she determined that she was one undeserving of joy, of the warmth of family, of love… Edelgard was happy.

Though dark clouds may hang over one’s head, the threat of an oncoming storm should not be permitted to dampen the beauty of a sun dappled day.  
Wounds healed.

Dawn broke.

Storms could always be weathered.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write Dimigard kids and just make it pure fluff, but somehow this happened instead. So um... yeah
> 
> Also their kids have Russian names because you can't tell me Dimitri/Faerghus wasn't based off of Russia/ns. Which just makes him more endearing to me because I'm Slavic (Ukrainian)! So now I'm thinking about German princess Edelgard and Russian Tsar Dimitri, and that'd be a cool long fic to write, but haaaaaahaahaha I don't have time to write a full length slow burn fic and actually consistently update so probably not happening. Maybe a one-shot, if anyone is interested.
> 
> Maybe I'll also write Dimitri reacting to meeting his twin sons for the first time--that'd probably be fluffy. 
> 
> You know, I'd sell my soul to see Dimitri in a Russian Military Officer uniform (With the long coats). FE Heroes alt? My wallet'd be empty. 
> 
> Anyway, I wrote this quickly because I wanted to, probably not as good as my other fics because of it, but oh well. hope someone enjoys!


End file.
